Dual championship criteria set

The Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) has set the method for schools to qualify for its first Dual Wrestling Championships set for Feb. 23, 2013 in Kearney.

By Press release

Nebraska City News-Press - Nebraska City, NE

By Press release

Posted Aug. 29, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Aug 29, 2012 at 4:56 PM

By Press release

Posted Aug. 29, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Aug 29, 2012 at 4:56 PM

Nebraska City, Neb.

The Nebraska School Activities Association (NSAA) has set the method for schools to qualify for its first Dual Wrestling Championships set for Feb. 23, 2013 in Kearney.

The NSAA’s Dual Wrestling Committee decided (with approval of the NSAA Board of Directors) that the winning teams from the NSAA Wrestling District Wrestling Championships (Feb. 8-9) will automatically qualify for the inaugural championships hosted by the University of Nebraska-Kearney.

Along with the four NSAA district champions from each class, the remaining four teams in Classes A, B, C and D, will be chosen via a wildcard point system based on each school’s performance at the district wresting tournament.

Each of the four wildcard teams must have a minimum of 10 wrestlers to qualify for the NSAA Dual Championships. From there, the NSAA will use a formula combining a school’s district championship team points with 10 points for each wrestler entered into the district tournament, and give five bonus points for each wrestler who qualifies for the NSAA’s Individual Wrestling Championships on Feb. 14-16.

All eight teams qualifying for the NSAA Dual Championships will be seeded on an eight-team bracket according to the wildcard point system. Each school will wrestle three dual matches in the one-day event with winning and losing teams advancing to first-, third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches.

“This is an exciting year for wrestling in Nebraska,” said NSAA Assistant Director Ron Higdon, who oversees wrestling. “Dual wrestling marks the first time that a state championship has been introduced to the NSAA’s postseason events since 2007-08 when the Class B baseball championship was added.”

On top of the basic qualifying criteria, the Dual Wrestling Committee also set up a tie-breaking system to help seed the teams and determine which team will qualify for the event should two or more schools tie for the final qualifying spot. The NSAA will use an eight-step process based on a school’s performance at the district wrestling championships to separate the schools.

“A dual tournament is considerably different than our individual tournament” explained Higdon. “The NSAA Individual State Championship can be won by a team with five or six quality individuals. A dual tournament requires a team to have quality and numbers throughout the 14 weight classes in order to win. A dual tournament showcases a total team concept where every wrestler on the team has an opportunity to contribute. Even with a loss, an individual can inspire the rest of their team and that can factor into the final team score.”

Starting with the 2014-15 season, the qualifying criteria will take into consideration the regular season dual competition. Teams will then qualify for the NSAA Dual Wrestling Championships by a wildcard system based on regular season dual competition.

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“The initial criteria were set so that teams would not have to adjust their regular season schedules for two years,” explained Higdon. “However, the Dual Wrestling Committee believes that adding a win-loss component based on team-to-team competition would be better for 2014-15. Two years will give the schools adequate time to honor their existing wrestling contracts and adjust their schedules to create more duals.”

The 2012-13 NSAA Dual Wrestling Championships will feature two sessions with two classes of competition wrestling on eight mats. Two classes, yet to be determined, will start with first round action at 8 a.m. at UNK’s Health & Sports Center. Semifinal and consolation duals are set for 9:30 a.m. with the championship finals, third-, fifth- and seventh-place matches at 11 a.m. The second session with the other two classes of competition will start with first-round dual action at 3 p.m. Semifinals and consolation matches are set for 4:30 p.m., while the place-winning matches are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

NSAA Dual Wrestling Qualifying Criteria

The team champions from each respective district will be the four automatic qualifiers from each Class. The remaining four teams from each class will be determined by the following wildcard point system:

1. Total district team points

2. 10 points per wrestler entered in the district tournament (minimum of 10)

3. 5 points per state qualifier

The total points from 1, 2 and 3 will be totaled to determine the remaining team qualifiers for the Dual Championships.

If a tie exists for the final qualifying spot or higher seed, the following criteria will be used to break those ties:

The team with the most team points from the district tournament shall earn the qualifying spot or higher seed.

If still tied:

The team with the most wrestlers entered in the district tournament shall earn the qualifying spot or higher seed.

If still tied:

The team with the most state individual qualifiers shall earn the qualifying spot or higher seed.

The team with the most District Champions shall earn the qualifying spot or higher seed.

The team with the most District Runner-ups shall earn the qualifying spot or higher seed.

The team with the most District Third-place finishers shall earn the qualifying spot or higher seed.

The team with the most District Consolation Semifinalists shall earn the qualifying spot or higher seed.

The team with the Higher District Team Place shall earn the qualifying spot or higher seed.

Flip a coin.

All 8 teams that qualify for the Dual championships from each class will be seeded in an eight team bracket according to the wildcard point system.